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On Our Radar

Cisco Switches Up C-Suite Ahead of CEO's Retirement

Cisco (CSCO) promoted Gary Moore to chief operating officer on Thursday and appointed former worldwide sales head Rob Lloyd to president position.

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The move effectively identifies the frontrunners to replace CEO John Chambers ahead of his expected retirement. Chambers reiterated on Thursday that he doesn’t plan to exit the Cisco c-suite for another two to four years.

"Today we're evolving our organization and developing our leadership team to grasp this opportunity,” Chambers said. “We're optimizing the alignment across development and sales, and on the top priorities of our customers, to maximize speed to market and our competitive advantage.”

Lloyd will assume responsibility over Cisco’s development and sales efforts as the company seeks to boost its speed-to-market capabilities. He will also be responsible for accelerating the innovation of Cisco’s technology.

Chuck Robbins, who previously ran the Americas sales region, will assume Lloyd’s prior role as head of worldwide sales, while Pankaj Patel, currently executive vice president and chief development officer, will continue to lead Cisco’s development organization.

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Wim Elfrink, executive vice president and chief globalization officer, will continue his focus on emerging solutions and the development of new markets and will also integrate his organization into the development and sales organization. All three will report to Lloyd.

“This model will give clear responsibility and accountability for driving faster, more customer-focused innovation and the operational excellence and talent needed to enable it,” Moore said.

Shares of the San Jose, Calif.-based tech giant ticked slightly higher after hours on Thursday, to $19.